


do you miss the sadness when it's gone

by VaguelyDownwards



Category: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Genre: Ghosthunters AU, M/M, Possession, Sharing a Body, canon character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-16 23:44:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19328527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VaguelyDownwards/pseuds/VaguelyDownwards
Summary: The loss of Kujo Kiriya is a major blow to the small band of amateur ghost hunters that has formed among hospital staff. Saying goodbye is even harder when they're not entirely convinced he's gone.





	do you miss the sadness when it's gone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ozuttly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozuttly/gifts).



Everything happened so fast. Hiro blamed himself like a reflex, the absolute clarity of hindsight as blinding as the sun.

"You didn't know," said Emu. "None of us knew." Even overwhelmed by shock and grief, his first instinct was to help.

"That's your problem, intern," growled Hiro. "Wasting your time trying to be nice. I should've known. We knew that Kuroto Dan was behind the recent spike in supernatural activity. We knew that he had access to some kind of unbelievable power. The clues were all there. And I let him walk into a trap alone."

Emu looked up at him, the first time he had taken his eyes from the place Kiriya's body had been. "It's not your fault," he said softly.

"I'm in charge of the team. Everything is my fault." He briefly let his hand rest on Emu's shoulder, cold, mechanical. "Take the rest of the day off," he grunted as he straightened up. He turned to face Taiga, who had been watching them silently. The other man shrugged and stepped aside to let Hiro pass.

 

* * *

 

Much to Hiro's begrudging relief, Emu did not take the rest of the day off. "We're already down one set of hands," he said when Hiro raised an eyebrow at him. "And it's not like we can tell them why he's gone."

"You're an intern," said Hiro, like that was the only explanation necessary. "And he was a medical examiner. The restful dead can wait."

Still, he'd be lying if he said he didn't appreciate an extra set of hands. And for once, Emu seemed to understand the value of silence. Hiro didn't have the heart to take advantage of his position, not today, not from Emu, but the intern still brought him coffee without asking, and otherwise made himself next to invisible.

At the end of his shift, he went down to the morgue. Morbid, maybe, but blessedly quiet. And someone had to make sure the dead stayed that way. He dug in his pocket for the modified EMF meter that Taiga had cobbled together. He passed it over the wall of locker doors, pausing over each one to ensure the reading stayed level.

"Dr. Kagami!" came a sudden voice. Hiro spun around, shoving the device back into his pocket.

"Who is it?" he called out.

The speaker was a mousey woman at the door. She had the vaguely familiar look of most employees at the hospital, people he saw regularly and never spoke to.

"It's Hayashi, I'm one of the assistants in the morgue. We've been swamped lately, so I don't get out much."

"Well, we do our best to send you as few bodies as possible," said Hiro stiffly.

"Oh, no, it's not that! There's been a weird surge in DOAs, but today it's mostly because we're short-handed."

"I... see." Hiro started to turn back away from the door.

"That's actually what I wanted to ask you about." She paused to adjust her thick glasses. "It's Kujo, you know, Kiriya Kujo? He didn't come in today. I know he can be lax about protocol, but he didn't even call in."

Hiro measured his words carefully. "I wouldn't know," he said. "He isn't on my surgical team."

"I thought, you know, I've seen you together, him and a few others. I figured you might be friends."

"You were wrong. I barely knew him."

"Knew?"

"I'm sorry I can't help you, Ms. Hayashi."

The chill of the morgue ate into him as Hiro waited. Finally, the woman wilted under Hiro's stern gaze. "Sorry to bother you, Dr. Kagami," she said, and was out the door.

"And I thought I was the liar," said a voice just over his shoulder, soft as a whisper. Hiro turned to look, brandishing the EMF meter like a shield, but there was nothing there.

 

* * *

 

"You all have got to get some better methods," said the new girl as Taiga dropped a stack of paperwork on the table. "I mean, you're doing great at finding ghosts, I guess, but obviously finding them isn't enough."

"Taiga," warned Hiro.

The tech shrugged. "I don't like it either, but she already knows too much. I didn't really have a choice besides bringing her in."

"We could use the help," Emu put in.

"And why do you think that is?" Hiro snapped.

"It's not about that! It's just, you know, help is always good. The more the merrier, right?"

Hiro turned to Nico. "Ignore him. He's just naively optimistic."

"Gladly."

"With that out of the way, do you have suggestions? Not that we don't value your input, but we've been doing this for a while, and with considerably more resources than--what do you do exactly?"

"She's eighteen, you can ease off on the interrogation," said Taiga.

"Oh, good. First the intern, and now a child. Should we start recruiting in the neonatal ward next?"

"I have a life, is what I have," Nico interrupted. "I have connections. And I have a lot more free time than a bunch of doctors who are too busy fighting with each other to pay attention to what's important."

"Continue," grumbled Hiro. He thought he caught Taiga smiling.

"Before we can figure out what to do about Kuroto Dan, we have to figure out what he is," she said.

"He's not a ghost," said Taiga. "I mean, we can start with that much. He's... corporeal."

"I'm not so sure he's alive, either," said Emu slowly.

"He looked alive enough when he killed Kiriya."

"Did he really, Hiro? Because I don't know if you saw his eyes, but they didn't belong to a living man. And he didn't... didn't move right."

The implication hung on the air. Hiro swore the temperature dropped in the empty office they had commandeered.

Nico broke the silence. "Are you suggesting we're up against some kind of undead? I mean, ghosts are one thing, but this is..." She trailed off.

"Undead are quite a leap from ghosts," said Taiga, "but I can't really argue with the intern. Something definitely wasn't right with the man. And I don't think a normal person would've been able to make Kiriya just... disappear like that. Nobody's seen him around in a while, either."

"Well, I'm glad we've decided that our enemy is a zombie wizard, as if being a charismatic TV personality wasn't enough. I don't see how that gets us any closer to a solution."

"It's a start," said Nico. "I'll reach out to my contacts."

"Do you have a zombie hunter on speed dial?"

"Obviously I know a whole team of ghost hunters."

"It's not that much of a stretch," said Emu. Nico shot him a look that wasn't exactly a smile.

"You should probably agree with the lady," came that voice again, and Hiro froze. Watching everyone else's expression, he could tell that none of them had heard it.

"Well!" said Taiga. "That concludes today's meeting, I think. I'm going to go back to interpreting completely ordinary X-rays, and I suggest the rest of you do something incredibly normal with your day. It's been weird enough since the whole Kuroto issue surfaced. Hiro, eat a vegetable, you look pale."

Hiro scowled, but didn't argue. He did, however, pick up a slice of carrot cake on his way home.

 

* * *

 

The premise by which they operated was simple enough: ghosts are real, and sometimes they're a problem. Hiro would've been perfectly content to declare all ghosts are problems by virtue of being ghosts, but something in Emu's expression made him relent. And after all, if Saki came back to him, would he be able to banish her?

But even Emu agreed that possession was a problem, and as medical professionals (or training to be one, as the case may be), they were uniquely placed to counter that problem. If they failed to locate a possession victim on their own, sooner or later they'd be admitted to the hospital, and from there it was a simple matter of driving out and exorcising the spirit. Hiro didn't want to ask too many questions about the nature of death and the afterlife, but he'd bought a stack of paper talismans from a rundown local temple, and they were working so far. Hiro viewed it as a simple extension of his medical duties, Taiga viewed it as a necessary nuisance, Emu seemed to take it as a calling, and Kiriya--

Well. He'd never know, would he? Supposedly Emu had the full story, but Hiro wasn't cold enough to ask him about it now.

Still. There was definitely a significant difference between ghosts and something corporeal and deathless. Where did they even start with that? He couldn't just walk into the shrine and ask what to do about zombies.

"You could try asking an expert," came the voice, and Hiro tried very hard to ignore it. He stalked across the room to find the thermostat. It was getting late, and too cold to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Some unknown amount of time later, he was awake and sitting in a scalding bath. He blinked; he felt like he was coming out of anesthesia, foggy and lethargic. It looked like his bath at least, as far as he could tell. He didn't usually take it this hot, but for some reason he was absolutely freezing, like the heat of the water couldn't quite penetrate. He frowned. Treatment for hypothermia called for lukewarm water at best--

"It's not exactly a normal chill."

Hiro nearly jumped out of the water. He thought he saw something, a trick of the light maybe, a shadow of a man sitting on the edge of the bath. He knew if he squinted he'd see the jacket resting on his shoulders, the unnecessary sunglasses tipped low on the hint of his face. Knew it, and ignored it. He blinked again, and the strange waver in the air dissipated.

The bath was going cold. That was alright; Hiro felt warmer by the second. He rose up out of the water, wrapped himself in a towel and made his way to his room. It was dark, but that was normal; he left before dawn and arrived after dusk. He found his phone and checked the time: early morning, technically. Was he missing a day? They all blurred together at the hospital, anyway. Hiro shrugged into some clothes and made his way to work, dreaming of a steaming cup of coffee.

At the hospital, the intern arrived stunningly on time and regarded him with a strange look. "Are you alright?" he asked at the first available moment.

"Why wouldn't I be?" scoffed Hiro.

"You were, uh, acting a little unusual yesterday."

Hiro scanned his face for any sign of a joke, but Emu just looked concerned. "Unusual how?"

Emu avoided his eye. "I don't want you to take this the wrong way."

"Just tell me."

"You were, uh, nicer."

"I'm not here to be nice," said Hiro matter-of-factly. "I'm here to do my job."

"Yeah, I know," said Emu with a crooked smile. "It's not your most endearing quality."

"Go on."

"That's the main thing, I guess. You went out of your way to talk to people. Cracked a few jokes. Smiled."

"I smile."

"Not really."

Hiro leaned back, taking it in. "As it happens, I don't recall the last day at all. I went home the day before yesterday, and woke up this morning with no memory of this miraculous personality improvement you describe."

"Hiro, I don't hate you for being focused on your job. But, um, that is pretty concerning."

Hiro nodded. "I'm glad you've come to the obvious conclusion. I'm booked solid as usual, but I expect to see you and Taiga during my lunch break."

"Of course," said Emu. "And, well, it's good to have you back."

 

* * *

 

Hours later, Hiro, Emu, and Taiga were packed into Hiro's office. Hiro tried not to think about how it used to be even more crowded. Taiga waived some kind of device around him, frowning as he read the screen.

"Well, looks like you're clean now," he said finally. "But there's definitely some kind of residual energy."

"So I was possessed, but I'm not anymore."

"Looks like it."

"What kind of ghost possesses someone for a day and just makes them smile more?"

"A ghost that knows that the most devastating thing it could do to you is flirt with your nurses?"

"I didn't."

"You did," said Emu.

"I wasn't, um. Successful, was I?"

"I think you've got a date with Emu on your next night off." Taiga spared him a smirk.

Hiro looked to Emu, but Emu shook his head. "You were obviously not yourself. I didn't want to take advantage, for you to do anything you might regret."

"Emu, sometimes you're far too kind for your own good." Taiga sighed and put his device away. "Are we doing anything with this information?"

"I'm keeping one of the readers with me at all times."

Taiga shrugged. "Sure, go ahead, take it home for all I care. They're only technically hospital property."

"If I show up possessed again, hit me with one of the talismans."

"Even if it's benign?" said Emu with a start.

"If it's benign, it wouldn't toy with me like this. You know the rules. We agreed that any ghost that takes a host should be exorcised."

"An unwilling host."

Hiro made a noncommittal noise, and scowled his way out the door and back to work.

 

* * *

 

Now that he knew to watch for it, the temperature in his room was an obvious sign. Hiro caught himself reaching for a blanket when he realized what he was doing, and pulled out the pocket reader instead. He could read all the gauges as well as their dubious radiologist, but there was a very short list of things that could cause them all to jump around like this.

"What do you want?" Hiro called out, immediately regretting it. He sounded like an old man in a low-budget horror. "Go away, I have better things to do."

"Now, now, Hiro, I don't think you can get rid of me that easily."

"I've got spell amulets," growled Hiro, trying desperately not to squeak as he brandished the paper tags in his other hand.

A humanoid form slowly materialized in front of him. The colors were faded, turning his jacket to a somber black. Somehow, it seemed especially nonsensical that he still wore the sunglasses, as if any part of a ghost's apparel would be strictly practical. "Would you really try to exorcise me?" said something that looked entirely too much like Kiriya.

"We agreed that possession is malicious." There. His voice was hardly shaking at all.

"Ah, actually, I'm sorry." He sounded like he meant it, too. "Everything's very confusing like this, I hardly knew what I was doing."

"You let me wander around the hospital flirting with nurses on accident?"

"Well, not entirely. But once I realized what was going on, I couldn't just leave you there. Might look suspicious if you switched back out of nowhere."

"Kujo, I even asked out the intern."

"That's the least unusual thing you did all day."

Hiro chose to ignore that remark. "Fortunately, he had the sense to say no."

"A shame, really."

"Is this what it's like to be haunted, then? Are you going to follow me around and make unwanted suggestions until I finally decide to use the amulets?"

The ghost of Kiriya Kujo drifted downward and settled into a chair. "I thought maybe we'd solve the problem of Kuroto Dan."

"Is there a reason I get to be so lucky? Why don't you go bother the intern instead? He actually doesn't mind your presence." Hiro leaned against the wall and stared at the ceiling.

"Tried. Can't. Something about Emu, I can't possess him."

"You tried?"

"Upset you weren't my first choice?" Even in washed out shades of gray, his smile was jarringly bright.

"Hanaya?"

"Surrounded by all those machines. The CT scanner, PET scanner, the whole radiology department. It's like walking through sludge."

"The new kid?"

"The girl? Hiro, she's practically a child and you just met her. There's no way that isn't weird."

"Anyone! The hospital director, or some total stranger, anyone else!"

Kiriya cocked his head to the side. "Are you suggesting I haunt a stranger and bend them to my will?"

"I'm suggesting you go away."

"I'll give you some more time to think about it," said Kiriya, and faded from sight. Hiro didn't relax until he was sure the room had warmed back to a comfortable temperature.

 

* * *

 

Most people who knew him expected Hiro to choose an empty table at the hospital cafeteria, where he could be alone with his antisocial ego. To the contrary, he carefully selected a seat a table that was already mostly full of people eating and talking. He found his coworkers were less likely to interrupt him if they thought he was already part of a conversation.

But it wasn't foolproof, as demonstrated when his least favorite fool set his tray down at the seat next to him. "We need to talk about Kiriya," said Emu with uncharacteristic assertiveness.

"What's there to talk about? He's gone."

Emu spoke slowly, and fixed him with a direct stare. "I think we both know that's not true."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Hiro, he did more than just flirt with the nurses. That day you came in possessed, we spoke. We had a conversation. I know it's him."

Hiro looked away. He couldn't meet Emu's eyes. "It's hard losing someone you care about," he said. "I know you want to believe he isn't gone, but trust me--"

"I'm not just making this up. I know it's him, because he told me so."

"And you trusted he was telling the truth?"

Emu barked out a laugh. "Yes. And no. It's Kiriya, I'm not about to take everything he says at face value again. But it's him, Hiro. I'm sure of it."

Hiro allowed a curt nod. "That's what he tells me. I'm not sure what to make of a ghost who takes the form of a notorious liar."

"What do you think he's here for? The other ghosts we've faced usually had some kind of unfinished business."

Hiro forced himself to remember the day Kiriya died. "It's possible it was unintentional. Whatever Kuroto Dan did to him, it wasn't a normal death."

Emu nodded. "When we spoke, he seemed... confused. Like he didn't know how he wound up in your body. I don't think he even knew he was dead, not at first."

"For all we know, that's normal for ghosts," Hiro countered. "We don't witness how they come about."

"We could ask. Next time we encounter one that isn't, you know, dangerous."

"Hojo, I'm willing to tolerate your sentimentality so long as it doesn't interfere, but it does get tiresome. For the safety of others, we have to assume all ghosts are dangerous. Even the ones who appear to be old friends."

There was a flicker of something in Emu's eyes, and his entire posture changed. "You don't have to _assume_ anything. It's just easier to pretend there's no chance of seeing someone you love again."

"Hojo--"

"Just because something is easy for you doesn't make it true. Or right." He stood up and collected his tray. "I'll see you after lunch."

 

* * *

 

Hiro didn't see Emu for the rest of the day--not at work, at least. He glanced at a schedule and saw that the intern was assigned to a different doctor that afternoon. He dimly remembered he had been the one to insist on it; at the time, he just didn't want to be responsible for babysitting him all day. Now, that relief was mixed with something sour.

"Feel like talking about it?"

"I refuse to be seen talking to thin air while I'm at work," Hiro hissed.

An eerie chill settled into his bones. He remembered, too late, the sensation of waking up in the bath as the dissociative fugue evaporated off of him. _"How about this?"_ said Kiriya from inside his head.

"I'm still not talking to emptiness." Hiro shot a paranoid glance around him, hoping no one caught the whisper.

Something like a sigh echoed through his mind. _"Don't, then. Just think the words at me."_

Hiro frowned, focused. _"Am I supposed to find some kind of comfort in the fact that you can apparently read my thoughts?"_

_"I thought you'd find it more convenient than sharing our conversation with the nurses headed this way."_

_"I would find it convenient for you to go away."_

_"Charming as always."_

Hiro bit back another acidic response as the predicted nurses rounded the nearest corner. His first instinct was to snap at them for interrupting, but they, after all, were supposed to be here. _"Can you at least keep quiet for the next few hours? I have a delicate procedure scheduled, and I don't need any distractions."_

 _"As you wish,"_ came the reply. With it, an image of Kiriya's smile, mocking, eyes half-hidden behind unnecessary shades.

 

* * *

 

Hiro dragged himself down to radiology. He stuck his head into a room full of screens and backlit displays, rapped on the doorframe. "Meeting. The empty office. ASAP." Taiga glared at him over his computer monitor, glanced down to see the missed messages on his phone, and begrudgingly began gathering his things. He'd already sent similar messages to the intern, but hadn't received a reply. Well, either he'd be there, or he wouldn't.

He got his answer soon enough. Emu was already smiling at him from outside the empty office when he arrived.

"I'm surprised you still came," said Hiro cautiously as he opened the door for them.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"You seemed, ah, very upset at lunch."

Emu shrugged. "Must not have been important. Besides, I can't just not show up to a meeting."

Hiro started to suggest that he could absolutely choose not to show up to a purely voluntary event, but just then Taiga arrived. "You brought the kid," he said instead.

"The kid has news," Taiga shrugged.

"The kid has a name, and can speak for herself," said Nico.

"Well, this is everyone," said Hiro, "so the kid might as well get started."

Nico pushed to the center of the room. She bestowed each member of the team with their own withering look; Hiro rolled his eyes, Emu frowned, and Taiga gave an imperceptible smile.

"What do we know about Kuroto Dan? You all are probably familiar with him as a minor celebrity, but he's practically a cult leader in online mystic circles. He goes by a few different names--titles, really--but he's probably best known as the Living Zombie. The offline identity of the Living Zombie is something of an open secret in the right crowds, but these folks are wary enough of outsiders that the general public doesn't know about his little hobbies."

"And what hobbies might those be?" put in Hiro.

Nico didn't miss a beat. "Talking trash, mostly. These are people who spend a lot of time boasting about doing the impossible using spiritual assistance, and he claimed he could do it all. His favorite thing to claim was that he knew the secret to eternal life. Which brings us to your friend."

"Oh?" Hiro was too focused to argue over the use of "friend."

"Not long ago, some of his followers disappeared. People disappear on the internet all the time, but I was able to connect some of them to missing persons cases. And then, by checking back with slightly different occult circles, I was able to connect the missing persons cases to ghost sightings that don't respond to the normal exorcisms."

"All of which means?"

"He's found some way to create ghosts directly. Usually, a ghost is someone who had unfinished business when they died. It's like he's just kicking people out of their bodies, and if I had to guess, it has to do with his so-called eternal life. I'm not sure if it's any comfort, but your friend is probably out there in ghostly form, given the way he disappeared entirely."

Hiro cleared his throat while the rest of the room digested that. "That brings us to the reason I wanted to have this meeting. I have reason to believe that the ghost following me is, in fact, that of Kiriya Kujo."

Silence. Emu, of course, said nothing. Taiga and Nico stared at him. After a long pause, Taiga finally asked him, "Can you be sure?"

The change was instantaneous. Hiro was suddenly no longer in control of his body. He felt hazy, drugged. He watched himself with an awareness that he ought to be upset, as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "You should hear him talk," he heard himself say. "His argument is that if I were a fake, I wouldn't pretend to be a 'notorious liar.' I should probably be offended."

Eyes widened around the room. Emu whispered "Kiriya." Even the new kid grasped the significance.

Hiro could see the movement, and even realized what it meant in time to get out of the way, but Hiro was not in control. He was only able to stand still as Taiga vaulted forward, talisman in hand. In the tight confines of the empty office, he didn't have very far to go, anyway. The talisman struck him cleanly in the center of his chest.

Hiro/Kiriya looked down in disbelief. Then, he laughed. No, it was definitely Kiriya laughing. Hiro was still disconnected, and just as confused as the rest of them. "Honestly, I'm surprised it's taken you this long to try something like that."

"Wh-why are you still here?" sputtered Taiga.

"Weren't you listening to the smart young lady? I didn't get here by the usual process. You can't get rid of me by the usual process, either. The mysterious Mr. Dan apparently has some way to kick people out of their own bodies, which is not exactly the same thing as creating a ghost."

"Could've fooled me." Taiga looked less than thrilled that his daring attack had failed.

"Could that mean," said Emu suddenly, "that he isn't even using his own body?"

They all turned to face him. He elaborated. "I mean, if we assume that he's kicking people out of their bodies somehow, couldn't he do the same with himself? Maybe these missing people stay missing because he's found a way to steal their bodies."

"I think," said Nico slowly, "that it's probably more complicated than that. But you may have a point."

They argued about it a while longer, just the three of them. The person that was neither Kiriya nor Hiro kept to the sidelines, until the team was too tired to continue. Nico and Taiga made their surly goodbyes, but Emu hung around behind.

"Not to be rude," he said, "but can I ask who I'm talking to right now?"

He smiled leeringly. "Are you that eager to be taken for a ride?"

"You should have told us all immediately. I thought you were dead." Emu's voice cracked on the last word.

"A guy's got a reputation to keep. I can't just be up front about everything just because I'm borrowing a body."

"Kiriya--"

"Hey, ice prince here has a question he won't ask. Are you two even on speaking terms?"

That seemed to snap him out of it. "Not less so than usual, I suppose. I know he doesn't like me much, but I'm trying my best."

Kiriya shrugged. "He says you snapped at him earlier, showed 'uncharacteristic temper for such a softhearted fool.'"

"Oh! I'm kind of surprised it bothered him at all."

Kiriya just shrugged.

"Well, he shouldn't worry about it. I, uh, wasn't really myself earlier today."

"Aren't we all, nowadays?" He regarded Emu measuredly, as if waiting for a response. When none came, he pushed himself off of the wall he had been leaning against, and finally made his way to the door. "Take care of yourself, Emu. Take care of him, too," he said, and was gone.

 

* * *

 

Hiro was invisibly livid as Kiriya walked them to his home. _"You have no right to share my private business like that."_

_"Private business? What private business?"_

_"Snooping in my thoughts--if there's a question I don't ask, it's because it doesn't need asking!"_

_"Hiro, there are certain experiences that put your entire life in a new perspective. Death of a loved one is one of them. Dying is another, or nearly dying, or whatever you call this."_

_"Do you have a point, or are you just trying to irritate me?"_

_"My point is that I'm not going to spend the rest of my ghostly existence watching you two dance around each other, especially now that I've been so gracelessly knocked out of the running."_

The suggestion was so outrageous that Hiro couldn't even think of the words he wanted to say until they reached Hiro's residence. Kiriya--Hiro--both of them in concert threw their shared body onto a chair in frustration.

"Is that your plan, then?" said Hiro, finally able to speak out loud. "Steal my body so you can keep flirting with the intern?"

Kiriya materialized in front of him. "Is that why you think I'm doing this? For my own amusement?"

"It's why you do everything, isn't it? And you might as well, since he likes you so much."

"I don't know how this has escaped your observation, but Emu is a nice person. He likes lots of people. He cares about people. It's what makes him so good at what he does. He even likes _you_. And I can't stand to watch the both of you clumsily avoid the topic."

Hiro was silent a moment. "Are you sure about that?"

Kiriya shrugged. "There's a real easy way to find out, but it involves talking to people."

Hiro huffed out a long sigh. "Fine, but you're coming with me."

"Now, who's taking who for a ride?"

 

* * *

 

The hospital was always busy, even this early in the morning. Health waits for no man, and medicine had better keep up. Still, Emu was alert enough to spy Hiro approaching him. He snapped to attention, mentally preparing himself for the day's curt sullenness.

"Intern," said Hiro. "Emu, I mean. The other day, while not under my own control, I made an... invitation."

"Er, you did, yes."

"Let's try discussing that again."

Emu's eyes widened as he scanned Hiro's posture and expression for hints that someone else was driving, that this was all some elaborate joke.

"All _three_ of us," Hiro added, just as Emu bursts out with, "Of course."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm working on a part two to wrap up actual plot details, but it has an awful lot less to do with character interactions, and more to do with worldbuilding details that I got hung up on.


End file.
